21 A model of the role of EIN5 in the ethylene signal transduction pathway. Ethylene (C2H4) is perceived by repressing the action of receptor complexes including ETR/ERS/EIN4 receptors, RTE1, and Raf-like protein kinase CTR1, which negatively regulates downstream signaling component EIN2. Upon ethylene treatment, EIN2 is derepressed and could thus transmit the signal into the nucleus to activate a number of transcription factors, including EIN3 and EIL1. EIN3 directly binds to the regulatory elements of target genes and induces the expression of yet other transcription factors (i.e., ERFs and EDFs) that would ultimately regulate a series of ethylene responses. In the absence of ethylene signal, a Skp1-Cullin1-F-box complex consisting of one of two F-box proteins, EBF1 and EBF2, targets EIN3 protein for degradation via an ubiquitin/proteasome pathway. Interestingly, EBF1/EBF2 gene expression is induced by ethylene in an EIN3-dependent manner, which forms a negative feedback regulation on the EIN3 function. EIN5, a 5′→3′ exoribonuclease, is involved in facilitating the turnover of EBF1/EBF2 mRNA through a yet unknown mechanism. Therefore, EIN5 is proposed to antagonize the negative feedback regulation on EIN3 by promoting EBF1 and EBF2 mRNA decay, which consequently allows the accumulation of EIN3 protein to trigger the ethylene response. Red arrows and blue bars represent positive and negative regulations, respectively. The dotted lines represent regulatory steps in which a direct physical link between upstream and downstream components has yet to be demonstrated.